Mar 13 Watch 4:45 Why good economic news spooked markets this week By PBS News Hour Anxiety over interest rates, the dollar and falling oil prices drove volatility in the financial markets this week; even good news seemed to upset investors. Judy Woodruff talks to Mark Vitner of Wells Fargo about what’s causing the turmoil and… Continue watching
Jan 28 The Fed’s not ready to act yet By Simone Pathe It will be another five months before the federal reserve considers raising short-term interest rates. Continue reading
Jan 22 Will Super Mario save Europe’s bacon? By Simone Pathe European Central Bank President Mario Draghi on Thursday announced an unprecedented plan to purchase 60 billion euros a month in the EU's first stab at quantitative easing. Making Sen$e breaks down how bond purchases work and turns to the Council… Continue reading
Dec 17 Federal Reserve expresses patience on rate raises By Simone Pathe The Federal Reserve turned financial commentators into would-be linguists Wednesday. The Open Market Committee did not raise interest rates, but it did alter the language used to describe its willingness to wait to raise rates. Continue reading
Nov 20 Taking selfies and talking inequality, has Janet Yellen gone too far? By Simone Pathe Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen hosted a rare meeting with community organizers and low-wage workers at the Fed Friday. And last month, she delivered a controversial speech on inequality and posed for selfies with the jobless. Like other Fed chairs… Continue reading
Nov 03 Why Paul Krugman thinks inflation fears are baloney By Paul Krugman There's no inflation threat to speak of right now, says Paul Krugman. In fact, deflation poses a bigger danger, he argues. And even if inflation should creep over the Fed's 2 percent target, Krugman is confident the Fed has the… Continue reading
Oct 16 The two great fears driving the stock market By Doug Dachille Wall Street money manager Doug Dachille identifies two risk factors for market volatility and argues that unless the Fed has cooked up a new economic therapy to respond to the next bout of deflation, there may be more significant economic… Continue reading
Aug 28 The real financial monster: low interest rates By Terry Burnham At an economic conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, last week, Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said the central bank is awaiting more recovery in the labor market before deciding when to raise interest rates. That was bad news for economist… Continue reading
Jul 15 Watch Yellen cautions against being overly optimistic before raising interest rates By PBS News Hour Continue watching
Jul 02 The new new thing: Negative interest rates — but will they work? By Benn Steil, Dinah Walker Last month, the European Central Bank became the first central bank to charge banks for depositing their extra reserves with them. The idea is to encourage banks to lend privately instead. But as the Council on Foreign Relations' Benn Steil… Continue reading